Generalife tickets

What is the Generalife?

The summer palace and country estate of the Nasrid sultans, on the Cerro del Sol hill east of and above the Alhambra palaces. It was built in the late 13th or early 14th century and redecorated by Ismail I in 1319.

The Alhambra palaces were where the sultan ruled. The Generalife was where he got away from it: a small palace among orchards and terraced gardens, watered by the same royal canal that feeds the Alhambra. Historians credit Muhammad II (ruled 1273 to 1302) or Muhammad III (1302 to 1309) with the building, and an inscription dates Ismail I's redecoration to 1319 (Wikipedia on the Generalife).

The name is usually read as jannat al-arif, the Garden of the Architect, though nobody is sure of its origin. Together with the Alhambra it became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1984.

Is the Generalife included in the Alhambra ticket?

Yes. The EUR 22.27 Alhambra General ticket includes the Generalife palace and gardens, and so does the EUR 12.73 gardens ticket.

The Patronato's official list of visit types splits the hill into four spaces: the Alcazaba, the Nasrid Palaces, the Partal and the Generalife. Both daytime tickets open the Generalife from 08:30 until closing, and you can enter it once. The only ticket that is purely Generalife is the night gardens visit at EUR 8.48, which runs on some evenings in spring and autumn.

One trap: "Alhambra and Generalife" in a tour title tells you nothing about the palaces. Both tickets fit that title.

What will you see inside the Generalife?

The Patio de la Acequia with its long water channel, the Patio del Ciprés de la Sultana, the Escalera del Agua and the 20th-century New Gardens. Allow about an hour.

• The Patio de la Acequia: a courtyard 48.7 metres long with a water channel down the middle and flower beds on both sides. The arching jets are a 19th-century addition, not Nasrid, and nobody minds.
• The Patio del Ciprés de la Sultana: a water garden named after a legend of a sultana meeting her lover under a cypress. Its present form is post-Nasrid; the arcade dates from 1584 to 1586.
• The Escalera del Agua: a stairway climbing under laurels, with water running down channels in the balustrades. Put your hand in it.
• The New Gardens (Jardines Nuevos): the cypress hedges and pools you walk through on the way in, laid out between 1931 and 1951. The open-air theatre beside them hosts the Granada Festival.

Most visitors walk the Generalife last, after the palaces. It is a fine way to end: the views back over the Alhambra and the Albaicín are the best on the hill.

Gardens ticket or Alhambra General: what is the difference?

EUR 9.54 and the Nasrid Palaces. Everything else on the two tickets is the same.

Side by side, from the official ticket shop at tickets.alhambra-patronato.es:

The Nasrid Palaces hold the Court of the Myrtles, the Hall of the Ambassadors and the Court of the Lions. They are the part of the Alhambra on every postcard. Missing them to save EUR 9.54 is the worst trade in Granada.

Who should buy the Generalife gardens ticket?

Return visitors, garden lovers with an hour or two, and anyone who finds the General sold out and still wants to walk the hill.

• Second visit: you have seen the palaces, and you want the gardens in a different season.
• Sold-out dates: the gardens ticket usually lasts longer than the General, since it carries no palace slot. Buy it and try for a night palaces ticket the same week (our night visit guide has the dates).
• Short on time: the gardens and the Alcazaba fit into two hours with no fixed slot to plan around.

Everyone else, on a first trip, should buy the General. If the only thing left on your date is the gardens ticket, look at a tour with the palaces before you settle: the sold-out guide lists the options.

Which Viator tours skip the Nasrid Palaces?

The Play Granada guided tour, the Alcazaba and Generalife audio ticket, Granavision's $23 option and Amigo Tours' $78 garden tour. On the Málaga day trip, only the Full Tour options include them.

Read the "not included" list on every listing. Here is where the main ones land:

• No palaces: the Play Granada guided tour ($40, lists the Nasrid Palaces ticket as excluded), the Alcazaba and Generalife audio ticket ($42), the $23 option of the Granavision tour (a walk outside the monument), and Amigo Tours' $78 "Alhambra Guided Tour with Generalife Gardens".
• Palaces on some options: the day trip from Málaga (Full Tour options only) and Granavision's full 3-hour option.
• Palaces included: the NHUE small-group tour, the premium tour in groups of 10, the private tour, the Alhambra Guide tour and the ticket with audio guide.

A garden tour at $40 costs more than three times the EUR 12.73 ticket it uses. You pay for a guide and for the ticket being available. That can be fine; just know what you bought.

A guided walk through the Alcazaba, the Partal and the Generalife from Plaza Nueva, about three hours. The Nasrid Palaces are not included, and it is non-refundable.

★ 4.1 · 3 hours · from $40

Explore the Alhambra and Generalife guided tour → Tour details

How do you fit the Generalife around the Nasrid Palaces slot?

With a morning slot, do the palaces first and the Generalife after. With an afternoon slot, start in the Generalife and finish in the palaces.

The Generalife sits at the eastern end of the site, next to the main entrance pavilion. The Nasrid Palaces and the Alcazaba are at the western end. Walking from one end to the other, through the Partal or along the Paseo de los Cipreses, takes a while, so don't run the gardens with ten minutes to spare before your slot.

A plan that works: enter at 08:30, walk the Generalife while it is quiet, cross to the Alcazaba, then join the palace queue 15 minutes before your time. The Patronato's own advice for late slots is the same: see the Generalife and the Alcazaba first. The full timing logic is in our Nasrid Palaces slot guide.

Can you visit the Generalife at night?

Yes, on the EUR 8.48 night gardens ticket: Tuesday to Saturday 22:00 to 23:30 in April, May and from 1 September to 14 October, and Friday and Saturday 20:00 to 21:30 from 15 October to 14 November.

The night route covers the access pavilion, the walnut walk, the New Gardens and the Generalife palace, lit up. There are no night garden visits from mid-November to the end of March, or in June, July and August (official list of visit types). In 2026 the last ones are on Friday 13 and Saturday 14 November; our autumn night visits post has the remaining evenings.

It is short, cheap and atmospheric, and it does not replace a day visit. Pair it with a daytime gardens ticket and you have seen the Generalife twice for EUR 21.21.

Frequently asked questions